Thinking of starting some streaming: Advice?

[Canageek]

So, inspired by the LRR streams and CaffeinatedLemur I was thinking of trying my hand at streaming, for some company while I game. My idea was to start a new game of OpenXCom and try and finally beat the original X-COM once and for all. (Well, that was one of my ideas, I've had a few others, such as a 'read everything, no stealth' run of Deus Ex.)

There are a few things I'm wondering about those:
1) How important is video and sound quality? I've got a standard 1080p webcam I got for Skype and Hangouts, is that good enough to start? I also have a headset mic but find it uncomfortable to wear for long.

2) How much bandwidth will this use? I know someone who streams Planetside 2 and he says you HAVE to stream at 1080p or no one will watch, and you need unlimited bandwidth to do that. I've only got 250 GB/month, how fast would I blow through that at various video qualities?

3) My ISP lists "Up to 2.5 Mbps upload", and I haven't tested that; Is there any chance that is fast enough to stream? I'll check it when I get home, I just decided I need something positive to plan for while working on a scary upcoming presentation for work.

Edit: I decided to ask these here, since I have no idea where else to ask and a ton of fan streams now exist in this community.

[AdmiralMemo]

Video and sound quality really depend on what you're streaming and your audience. I don't think webcam quality is especially important. Sound quality of your mic should be good enough for your audience to consistently hear you over the game.

Game video and audio should be of pretty good quality.

Also, develop an overlay to use, or have one developed for you, even if it's very simple. It'll make you stand out from just "Derp person with a rectangle webcam in the corner of their game" (which we only put up with from Matt because he's streaming directly from the XBox ). Visual indicators are pretty important in streaming.

If you can figure out how to green-screen yourself, so much the better. People like that, but it's not really a huge deal if you don't.

On all the other questions, I really don't know, even though I've streamed before.

[Matt]

I'll get an overlay sorted out soon.

-m

[Canageek]

Also, develop an overlay to use, or have one developed for you, even if it's very simple. It'll make you stand out from just "Derp person with a rectangle webcam in the corner of their game" (which we only put up with from Matt because he's streaming directly from the XBox ). Visual indicators are pretty important in streaming.

Thanks Memo, if I start streaming I'll see what I can whip up. I'm sure there are templates I can fiddle with, set some colours and a logo or something.

[Master Gunner]

I'll get an overlay sorted out soon.

-m

Seriously man, even Adam has an overlay for his home stream now.

[Canageek]

I'll get an overlay sorted out soon.

-m

Seriously man, even Adam has an overlay for his home stream now.

So I should use something like this, right? https://twitter.com/BadLayouts/status/505491746890219520/photo/1

[Merrymaker_Mortalis]

Game recording quality and Sound quality are the top priority.
Web cam quality is a nice touch. Generally your webcamness should be smaller than the game screen. Streamers do gain appeal via their personality, but the stream being VERY YOU can put off viewers.

I guess be prepared to grow and learn? It's impossible to know everything from the beginning, so really all you can do is get the basic cores sorted and dive right in. And change to feedback if necessary.

Think about what you like about streamers. I like streamers that interact with the chat. That's what makes streamers different from youtubers. That chance to interact with someone and get acknowledgement of my existence.

[Master Gunner]

Perfect!

[Canageek]

Game recording quality and Sound quality are the top priority.
Web cam quality is a nice touch. Generally your webcamness should be smaller than the game screen. Streamers do gain appeal via their personality, but the stream being VERY YOU can put off viewers.

I guess be prepared to grow and learn? It's impossible to know everything from the beginning, so really all you can do is get the basic cores sorted and dive right in. And change to feedback if necessary.

Think about what you like about streamers. I like streamers that interact with the chat. That's what makes streamers different from youtubers. That chance to interact with someone and get acknowledgement of my existence.

So how important is it that I stream at 1080p? From what I understand that uses multiple GB/hour of bandwidth, which would be a no-go for me.

[Matt]

do you have a cap on your upstream bandwidth? I understood caps to typically refer to downstream.

-m

[Canageek]

do you have a cap on your upstream bandwidth? I understood caps to typically refer to downstream.

-m

"250 GB monthly transfer limit", which as far as I can find on the Shaw site is combined upload/download. Cogeco in Ontario was the same way. Heck, I've not even done a test to ensure I have a fast enough upload rate TO stream from home; Does anyone know what you need to get a smooth stream?

[Canageek]

Lets see: Using Twitch's recommended settings, a 1080p stream needs 3000 kbps, which would be about 10 Gb/h, or 1.2 GB/h. Ok, that isn't too bad; someone told me it took far, far more then that. I'm betting they were thinking of Gb not GB, that or I'm doing my math wrong. That seems totally reasonable, given that I probably won't have the time to stream more then a few hours a week.

[AdmiralMemo]

I've streamed at 720 and no one's complained.

[Matt]

Heck, I've not even done a test to ensure I have a fast enough upload rate TO stream from home; Does anyone know what you need to get a smooth stream?

I use the shaw 100 package, which has a 5Mb upstream rate.

That def works. 2.5mb may be fine though, worth testing.

-m

[Merrymaker_Mortalis]

Game recording quality and Sound quality are the top priority.
Web cam quality is a nice touch. Generally your webcamness should be smaller than the game screen. Streamers do gain appeal via their personality, but the stream being VERY YOU can put off viewers.

I guess be prepared to grow and learn? It's impossible to know everything from the beginning, so really all you can do is get the basic cores sorted and dive right in. And change to feedback if necessary.

Think about what you like about streamers. I like streamers that interact with the chat. That's what makes streamers different from youtubers. That chance to interact with someone and get acknowledgement of my existence.

So how important is it that I stream at 1080p? From what I understand that uses multiple GB/hour of bandwidth, which would be a no-go for me.

I watch stuff at 720 because my laptop's monitor/cpu cannot handle 1080.
720 is fine.

It's good to think about long term though. Don't let that thinking prevent you from starting.

[Canageek]

It's good to think about long term though. Don't let that thinking prevent you from starting.

Thanks, I'll aim to start after my committee meeting, so around Oct 10th probably. It will give me something to look forward to.

I was thinking of starting a month ago, but a coworker who streams warned me that someone was trying to trick the police into sending swat teams to people streaming, and that several people he knew had been hit, thought the police had caught on and just showed up, were nice and got their IP and some technical details. However, you all seemed to be having so much fun that I want to give it a try.

[Merrymaker_Mortalis]

Streaming is something I want to try in the future (perhaps with a co-pilot because I don't know how easy I'll find speaking to the ether by myself. Might be easy if I get a following and regulars turn up. It's just I get bored of my own voice if I speak for too long).
I'm trying to get into Youtubing. But the area at which I can excel at is Pokemon Art Academy, but I really need a Capture Card XDS for that. Tried with a mounted webcam, and I'd either have to work REALLY fast, or endure the painful hand cramps for days after. Also, I'm unable to actually edit the videos afterwards. My system refuses to.

Basically, the videos I produce are Rollercoaster Tycoon 3 videos (takes about 12 hours or more to make the project and a few hours to make the video) and two Pokemon Art Academy Videos that take about 45 minutes to produce. The Pokemon Videos get double the views than the RCT3 videos.
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When you start streaming, you're going to have to share the address. I am eager to watch you. In a none creepy but affectionately supportive way.

[Lord Chrusher]

I notice much more of a difference going from 480 to 720 than from 720 to 1080.

[Elomin Sha]

720 is enough I'd say.

[Robo4900]

720 to 1080 only really makes a difference if the viewer is using a 1080p monitor, and even then, 720 looks fine.

[Volafortis]

Yeah, it's only noticeable if the people watching are fullscreening on a 1080 or better monitor, and even then, as plenty have mentioned, 720 still works fine. You just don't want to be any lower than 720, and if you can do 1080, it's certainly better.

I used to stream, and I probably will once again once I get a good streaming area set up.

[JustAName]

The only time I've found 1080 to be personally necessary is when watching the MtGO streams, so I can properly read the cards.

[Merrymaker_Mortalis]

Also bear in mind that not everyone watching your stream has the money to buy/justify buying a super monitor. Your common audience are probably average people.

[Volafortis]

The only time I've found 1080 to be personally necessary is when watching the MtGO streams, so I can properly read the cards.

Exactly: Stuff where you have a bunch of small text you want your viewers to read is when you need 1080, so it's really primarily up to what you plan on streaming.

[Canageek]

Thanks everyone, I'm going to give it a try, so you can all laugh at my troops getting mind-controlled and firing rockets at eachother.